Sam Antonacci

Antonacci transferred to Coastal Carolina for the 2024 season after hitting over .500 for Heartland CC in 2023. The left-handed-hitting Springfield, Illinois native slashed .369/.523/.507 (1.030 OPS) for Coastal with a 151 wRC+.

While still solid, Antonacci’s quality of contact doesn’t wow you when stacked against other college draftees taken in the top-five rounds. It’s a 103 mph 90th percentile exit velocity, 106 max exit velocity, and a 69-mph estimated average Bat Speed. However, it’s enough to give him a shot based on the rest of his offensive profile.

For starters, his plate discipline is elite. He walked (16.3%) more than he struck out (13.1%), chased only 11% of pitches out of the zone (4th lowest among college draftees), and whiffed on only 10.4% of his swings (2nd lowest in the class), all while making in-zone contact at a clip of 94% (7th best in class). This feeds into his 126 (26% above average) Swing Decision score (or SD+) being the 15th best among this year’s draft-eligible college hitters.

On the surface, Antonacci’s .421 BABIP with non-elite quality of contact metrics and just good (not great) speed raises some question marks as to how sustainable his 2024 production was. There’s likely at least some negative regression coming in that regard, but Antonacci’s 26.2% Line Drive rate with a 46% SweetSpot% combined with a 56% Hard Hit rate help to paint the picture. He possesses some Nick Madrigal-esque launch angle optimization ability. This means that he was able to spray line drives around the field at exit velocities and launch angles that produce balls right over the infielders and in front of the outfielders. When you don’t hit the ball exceptionally hard, this kind of trait, one that’s usually more innate than developed, is crucial to being drafted this high.

Digging even deeper, Antonacci crushed high Fastballs in 2024, hitting .444 with a .560 wOBA on them. This detail held steady even with plus collegiate velocity, as he hit .450 with only 15% whiffs on pitches 93+ mph. His simple, balanced set-up at the plate also allowed him to do damage on right-handed offspeed pitches, where he hit .525 and slugged .905.

At 2.6 DRS, Antonacci was good enough at the hot corner for the Chanticleers, but second base is more likely his long-term home. He’s got a shot to be a steal of this draft in the fifth round given how advanced his plate discipline, contact frequency and launch angle optimization are. It’s a similar kind of player that Brooks Baldwin was coming out of UNC Wilmington in 2022, albeit Baldwin was from a lesser conference and taken ten rounds later.

Jackson Appel

Appel is a switch-hitting Senior-sign catcher from Texas A&M coming off a very solid 3.6 WAR season for the national runner-up in 2024. Appel signed for just over $122K, or roughly $253K under slot for the 169th pick. He spent his first three collegiate seasons in the Ivy League at Penn where he put up OPS totals of .838, .945 and .847 before transferring to A&M prior to 2024 and slashing .331/.422/.534 (career-best .956 OPS). He also produced a career best .203 ISO, 10 HR, and 16 stolen bases after stealing a total of six bags at Penn.

His production broke down to .293/.395/.477 from with 6 HR from the left side and .403/.479/.645 with 4 HR as a righty. From both sides, Appel has a very short and quiet move to the baseball, eliminating a big stride and opting for a simple “no stride” weight shift that helps him make as much contact as he does.

Under the hood, Appel does a little bit of everything without a tool that jumps off the page. A .956 OPS as a mid-major transfer catcher in his first season in the SEC is impressive, but he also walked (12%) more than his struck out (11.7%) as he consistently controlled the strike zone. At the pitch-level, Appel had a roughly league-average Chase rate, but he whiffed on only 13.7% of his swings and made contact on in-zone pitches on just under 90% of those swings. In terms of power potential, his 103 mph 90th percentile exit velocity & 68 mph Bat Speed are both respectable. He also only hit 38% groundballs with above average line drive and SweetSpot rates in 2024.

Behind the plate, Appel was a slightly above average defender, both as a pitch framer and a thrower by DRS, which was consistent with his time at Penn.

Featured image courtesy of Coastal Carolina Athletics